“Mr. Trump also noted that “people are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times as opposed to once” and that “they end up using more water,” according to a transcript of the discussion.” I don’t know if the President knows what he is talking about. But I do know that it is unnecessary to flush the toilet every time you use it. The conventional wisdom has changed. There is nothing wrong with letting pee stand in the toilet. If you move your bowels once a day, you can delay flushing until then.
The standard toilet uses 6 gallons to flush. There are “eco-efficient” toilets which use less, but some of those will not readily flush excrement. So instead of replacing the standard toilet and flushing it every time, why not just flush excrement, and let the pee stand in the water until then?
Not only does this save water, but apparently it spreads few germs, cuts midnight noise, saves money, and (maybe) helps fight climate change.
The whole wastewater system is contributing to climate change. But by flushing less frequently, at least we’re putting a little less waste into the system and drawing a little less out of the freshwater supplies.
I pointed out just this week that there are many small steps that can be taken to reduce waste. Stopping unneeded advertising flyers saves trees and reduces fossil fuel emissions. Using televised meetings cuts fuel uses from people flying to attend those meetings.
Of course, the savings are nothing compared with systems like car sharing or even getting rid of cars and moving to universal public transit. But every little step counts.
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